All attack is mental because the physical does not exist. It seems in the dream-world that I first judge or condemn, then I attack (mentally or physically). In Reality, the judgment/condemnation is the attack. According to ACIM, the root cause of any judgment/condemnation is that I believe I am separated from God. It may seem that someone said harsh words, looked at me cross-eyed, smirked or cut me off in traffic, but what I am really upset about.......what I really feel guilty about.....is that I believe I have separated myself from God.
The mind that judges (me) will perceive itself as separate from the mind being judged ("other"). My judgment is projected onto someone else, yet in Truth, my judgment remains with me, permeating my Spirit and darkening my Soul. It is this guilt that has hidden God from me and driven me insane.
The separation started with the acceptance of guilt into my mind by trying to imagine a world without God. The separation ends when I accept the Atonement (God's Plan of forgiveness). Made insane by guilt, I projected my guilt outward and seemed to create a world without God. This world is a symbol of punishment and all laws that seem to govern it are the laws of death: children are born through pain, into a world of suffering and pain; they learn of sorrow, separation and death; their minds seem to be trapped in their bodies and their minds suffer when their bodies are hurt; they seem to love, but are deserted or they desert others; their bodies change, wither and gasp; in the end, death claims them. God appears to be a cruel god indeed. If what I created was Reality, God would indeed be cruel.
My dream-world is a picture of the crucifixion of God's Son. Until I realize God's Son (me) cannot be crucified, this mad world is the world I will continue to experience. I am not guilty. I did nothing wrong.
Mine is a world of learning. The final lesson I need to learn here is the Atonement. It teaches me that having never sinned, I have no need of salvation.
Guiltlessness/Invulnerability. Guilt and Love cannot coexist. To accept one is to deny the other.
In the strange world I have created, it appears that I am a sinner. Without this belief and the guilt it engenders, ego has no life. Only in my mad world am I guilty. I have sinned in the "past," but there is no past. Time seems to go in one direction, yet when I reach its end, it will roll up like a long carpet and disappear. As long as I believe I am guilty, I will walk along this carpet, believing that it leads to death; the journey will seem long, cruel and senseless.....and so it is.
My journey in the dream-world is a useless journey. The Journey God sets for me is one of release and Joy. The Father is not cruel. The Son cannot be hurt. The retaliation the Son sees and hears in the dream-world will never touch me. I believe in it, but it is not True. I am reviewing and reliving it over and over in my mind. I can stop now. It is an illusion. My only Reality is as God's Son with Him in Heaven. It is only a matter of time before I Awaken to this and realize that "time" is an illusion.
It all began with a tiny, mad thought that I could be separate from God. I allowed this thought to grow, and seemingly created a world and a universe apart from God. It seemed He "allowed" me to live here and be "tempted" to sin. Death appeared to be the only reprieve; yet even in death there seemed to be an option of "hell." It seemed that everything that could possibly tempt me was right in front of me and I was set up to fail. What I seemed to create is a vicious circle of guilt, condemnation and attack, always forefront in my mind, hiding Reality.
It is only a dream.
ACIM is also a dream within a dream, leading the way to Reality. Reality has never changed; It has never left me. I can start changing my world by changing my mind about the world. Is it a world of hatred and vengeance or is it a world of Love and forgiveness? Start looking on my world with Love and forgiveness and see the companions who travel with me as Holy brothers. In Reality there is no road to travel on and no time to travel through; there is no journey. Only an Awakening.
Accepting the Atonement is accepting my Guiltlessness. The past has never been, the future will never be. To accept the Atonement is to agree that there has to be a better way. The words in ACIM are words of Truth and I will realize that the words come from a Source other than me. What the world has given me is nothing but heartache, but I will come to know I can trust God's Voice.
Ego's plan to get rid of guilt is to make it real, then do penance for it. It teaches me to attack myself for my sins and guilt. There is no escape with ego's plan. Truth, on the other hand, dispels guilt with the Calm Recognition that it has never been. Truth knows the Son of God is Guiltless. It knows sin, guilt and attack is impossible.
As Son of God, I am Wholly Pure, Guiltless and Invulnerable.
I am not Guilty. The purpose of projection is to get rid of the guilt of imagining a world without God. I split my mind and created the world, the people and all the situations and thrust my guilt upon them, making the "other" guilty. The part of me that knows only of this guilty world is ego and ego's guilt stands in the way of remembering God. I turn away from myself, as Son of God, and grasp at the guilt of my thoughts. My ego projects guilt "outward" to get rid of it, but doing this ensures it will never leave me.
I feel sinful and guilty, but I have no idea why. The dark recesses of my mind hold my belief in guilt from my Awareness. In that dark and secret place is the realization that I have betrayed God and myself (as His Son), condemning myself to death. I do not even suspect this murderous, insane idea lies hidden in my mind. Ego's destructive urge (alcoholism? drug addiction? philandering?) is so intense, that nothing short of death can satisfy it. Ego does not see me as the Son of God because it is blind. If it perceives Innocence anywhere, it will attempt to destroy It. Ego has to be guilty to survive; it must destroy the Innocent.
I believe I have killed the part of myself who is God's Son. In believing I am "separate from" God, I have created a separate self: ego. Ego ego lives in "a world without" God. A world without God is completely the opposite of everything God Is. Instead of Love, I see war. Instead of Peace, I choose chaos. Instead of Life, I see death. In the world of dreams, death seems to be the only thing which promises my body and spirit rest.
The crucifixion is a symbol of ego. Ego seeks death and destruction. The crucifixion of an Innocent being, the Son of God, is ego's ultimate goal.
ACIM tells me God's Will for me is Happiness and Peace, yet I am afraid of It and believe It would imprison me. I might recognize the futility of ego and its offerings, but I do not yet look on the alternative ~ God's Will ~ with gladness. I have blocked God's Will from my Awareness and seeing it only with the eyes of ego, I am afraid of redemption and believe It will kill me.
In the idea of "separation from" God, the separated god is angry for what I did and vengeance will be his. But this is all nonsense. I will bring my guilt to the Light and let the Light dispel it. I have never been separated from God. God would never let that be.
There will be Great Joy in Heaven on my homecoming and the Joy will be mine. The redeemed son of man will know his Reality as Son of God.
The Fear of Redemption. Why do I have to do all this work just to get Home? Why does the Atonement have to be so "hard"? Why can I not just wake up and be in Heaven? I can......when I realize I am doing this to myself. There is no one "else." There is no "world."
I must learn to offer only Love and forgiveness. Let no one upset me. See everyone as a Holy brother and Peace will be all I know. I could Awaken right now, if I believed this Truly.
In my disordered state of mind, the world I created seems real. Shockingly, I am not seriously disturbed by my hostility or desire to attack (mentally or physically). My ego's real terror is salvation. Under ego's dark foundation is the Memory of God and this ego fears. This Memory would restore me to my Proper Place. As ego, my fear of attack is nothing compared to my fear of Love. Ego does not want the separation healed. Ego fears the Intense and Burning Love of God. This is what it hides from. I could not control my Joyous response to the call of Love if I heard it. The "world" I thought I made would vanish.
Is it not easier to say "I hate," than "I love?" I associate Love with weakness and hatred with strength. Ego has an insane belief system and it knows it would cease to exist in God's Presence. Ego can accept insanity because ego made insanity, but it cannot accept Love because it did not. My individual death seems more valuable to ego than my Living Oneness.
I must begin to look upon my illusions and not keep them hidden. They rest on a foundation of sand and will crumble to dust when I look right at them and see them for what they are. Underneath all illusions is the Loving Mind that thought it erred. The pain in my mind will be so apparent when it is uncovered, that its need of healing cannot be denied. No psychology, medicine or surgery can heal my mind and mind is the only thing in need of healing. Lay all my hurt before God's Eternal Sanity. Let Him heal me. He will cleanse and heal my mind from its thoughts of littleness and restore it to the Magnitude of God.
Only God's Love is Real and He shares It with His Son. While I find my way Home, exempt no one from my love or I will be holding a dark place in my mind where Truth is not welcome. Love cannot enter where fear is present. I am God's Son, I have nothing to fear. My place in His Kingdom is Assured.
God did not create this world, for He would not allow "separation from" Him to happen; yet I desired to know what a world "without" God would be like. I am lost in a dream, but Safe in Heaven with my Father. Wake up to Love. Forgive myself and all I seem to see "outside" me and Awaken to Reality.
Function of Time. Hell is an idea that I created, for "hell" would exist if God did not. My life in this world is futile because all life here ends in death. How hopeless is that? Death just seems to be part of what I call "life." This seems normal and rational to me, yet it is far from normal and is completely irrational. My function in Heaven is Creation. My only True function in this world is forgiveness.
Ego invests heavily in the "past" and in the end, believes that the past is the only meaningful aspect of time. Guilt will ensure that the future is the same as the past, with the present being completely avoided. Ego believes in paying for the past in the future. Ego regards the present only as a brief transition to the future. "Now" has no meaning. The present merely reminds ego of past hurts. I react to those I meet in the present from a past reference point, hiding their present reality; reacting as though they were someone else, preventing me from recognizing them as they are. I receive messages from my brother out of my own past, making the past real in the present, preventing me from letting it go. Yet every brother can offer me release from the past now. Allow the Love to show me.
Escape the shadowy figures from the past. They are not Real and have no hold over me. They only carry pain, directing me to attack ~ in the present ~ in retaliation for something that seemed to happen in the past, assuring the continuity of future pain. Learn that the past ~ and its pain ~ are illusions or I choose a future of more illusions, resulting in many lost opportunities for release. Ego wants to preserve my nightmares and prevent me from Awakening, so it reinforces the "reality" of the past. Yet, in every Holy encounter (guided by Love), I always meet my Self.
God's purpose for "time" is my healing, rendering time unnecessary. In this world, Now is the only part of time that comes close to Eternity. I can begin to appreciate Eternity in the reality of "now," without past or future. Only "now" provides opportunities for the Holy encounters which can offer salvation. Healing cannot be accomplished in the past, it can only be accomplished in the "now," releasing the future.
My function in the world is forgiveness. Accept this. The only aspect of time in which healing can occur is "now."
Two Emotions. In the dream-world there are only two emotions that I can experience: Love and fear. That is it.
Love is Eternal, Changeless, continually exchanged and increasing as It is given. Fear has many forms, but they all have one thing in common: they are all insane. Forms of fear are made with eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, fumbling around in a private world that cannot be shared. I people my world with figures from my past. Yet the figures I see are not Real.
It is through these strange and shadowy figures that in my insanity, I relate to my insane world. I see only the past and to the "past" I relate, communicating with those who are not there. My guilt was projected outward, creating this world and it reflects itself back to me. I cannot see beyond it. Again and again I attack my brother, because I saw in him a shadow of my past. But there is no one else "out there," so I attack only myself. I have condemned only myself. I live in a private world of my own making. Everything is disordered and chaotic. What is within appears to be without and What Is Truly within, I do not see for I cannot recognize Reality.
When I look at my brother and I am annoyed or disturbed by what I see, I am seeing only my own hatred and fear. My private world is filled with figures of fear that I have invited and all the Love offered to me, I do not see.
Does it ever occur to me when I look upon my world, that I have withdrawn into insanity? I see what is not there and hear what makes no sound. I communicate with no one and I am as isolated from Reality as if I were all alone in the universe. In my madness, I overlook Reality completely and see only my split mind everywhere. God calls to me but I do not hear Him, for I am preoccupied with ego's voice. Heaven is obscure ans it seems I am alone in a body, in world that has no mercy. This is what I am giving to myself. Would I really give a gift like this to anyone else? Yet I give it to myself. What I have offered myself is unkind and not True.
ACIM offers me Atonement. Atonement does not demand sacrifice or penance of any kind. It offers me escape from insanity to come forth from my private world of madness into Peace. It will offer Love, instead of fear. I will learn to Love my "brother" and draw him near to myself and I will begin to perceive the Reality I share with God.
I cannot see in darkness. Vision depends on Light. Let go of my dark, private world of dreams and illusions. Do not seek Vision through my physical eyes. My physical eyes show me only the darkness I created and in this I am deceived. Beyond this dark vision is Reality. My "vision" comes from fear, God's Vision comes from Love. He sees It for me while I am blind.
I have two emotions. One I made (fear) and one was given me (Love). Each is a way of seeing. While I seem to be "apart from" God, different worlds arise from whatever emotion with which I choose to see. Beyond my darkest dreams Truth sees God's Son within me, shining in Perfect Radiance and Innocence, undimmed by my sad dreams.
Love is my Light and my Guide. It will reveal God's Son to me as Christ (the Sonship healed and Whole). In the Sanity of Love's Vision, I will learn to look upon myself and my "brother" with Love.
Finding the Present. Reality leaves no room for error. Reality is Eternal Perfection, Truth and Love, in Wholeness. I will perceive my "brother" only in the present and see him Truly. He is not the sum total of my past experiences. The past has no reality in the present. If I remember the past as I look at my brother, I will not be able to perceive him Truly.
I consider it "natural" to use my past experience as the reference point from which to judge the present, but this is unnatural because it is delusional. My whole world is delusional except for that which is Love. Look on everyone with no reference at all to the past and I will be able to learn from the "now." Unless I choose that it be so, the past can cast no shadow to darken the present. If I hold darkness in my mind, it is like a cloud that covers Reality. Darkness is not "out in the world," for there is no world; darkness is in my mind. Yet, I can choose Light.
Allow Christ to be revealed in everyone I meet. To be "born again" is to release the past and look without condemnation on the present. The cloud that hides my Innocence from me is the past. Let it go.
With ego, "time" imprisons me. With Love, time will release me. Ego destroys time's continuity by breaking it into past, present and future. It anticipates the future, based on the past and plans for the future accordingly. Aligning the past and future like this, blocks the miracle which offers me Freedom from both. The miracle enables me to perceive Truly. Let no dark cloud from my past obscure Reality from me. Truth lies only in the present. I will find It. The present is before time began and will be when time is no more. In the present are all things Eternal and Whole. Now is the time of salvation. Now is the release from time.
In seeing Wholeness "outside" me, I perceive my own.
The Light is in me, but I do not see It. Yet, I will find It. Everything and everyone "outside" me that I choose to see in Light, brings my own Light closer to my Awareness. Love always attracts Love. Everything is either Love, or a call for Love.
There is a Light the dream-world cannot offer me yet, It is in me. This Light will captivate me like nothing in the dream-world can do. In sleep I am alone and my Awareness is narrowed to myself. I dream of isolation because my "eyes" are closed. Yet the Laws of Love are not suspended because I sleep. Even in sleep God protects me.
Attainment of the Real World. "Come to me, all you who are weary....... and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.
The "real world" is my world forgiven and all brothers united as One in Love. It is the last step of the Atonement, before God takes the final step Himself and Awakens me to Heaven.
Sit quietly. Look upon the world I seem to see. Tell myself: Reality is not like this; It has no buildings; It has no streets where people walk alone and separate; there are no stores where people buy an endless list of things they do not need; It is not lit with artificial light (the sun, electricity, etc); night does not come; there is no "day" that brightens and later grows dim; there is no loss; there is nothing in Reality but Light and Love.
I must deny the chaotic world I see, for the sight of it is costing me Vision. I cannot see both Reality and a world "apart from" God, for each of them involves a different kind of seeing. The sight of one is possible because I have denied the other. One will seem real to me depending on which I choose.
I do not really want the chaotic world I seem to see. It has disappointed me time and time again. The homes I built have never sheltered me. The roads I have made led me nowhere. Nothing I built has withstood the crumbling assault of time. Everything I have made here has the mark of death on it. Do not value it in the least. As soon as I put my arms around it in Love, it will turn to dust. Yet, I am sad to turn away from it, because I know of nothing else. I have denied Reality and in doing so, hidden It from my experience.
Let Love show me a better way.
Reality has the Power to touch me even now. What I call with Love will come to me. Love always answers, It never denies a call for help. Love hears the cries of pain that rise from every part of my mind. Be willing to learn that the world I made is false. See the dream-world in forgiveness and Love to prepare for my Awakening to Reality.
Reality does not depend on my recognition. It lives within me in the Quiet Present. God waits for me to leave illusions behind and enter into Reality with Him, which He holds out to me in Love. I have seen only glimpses of Reality ~ in the eyes of a loving pet, the innocence of a newborn baby, the hand of a former enemy extended in peace. Yet while I value a world of chaos, I will deny that the world of Love exists.
It is God's Will that nothing touch His Son except Himself. I am as Safe from pain as God Himself. Love surrounds me without end or error. I rest in a Peace undisturbed. Deny the world of pain and perceive the Arms of Love around me.
First I dream of Peace. Then I Awaken to It. I exchange what I made (a world without God) for what I want (Love/Peace/Joy). By my choice ~ my small willingness ~ Love corrects the world of perception and dreams. I learn to see what is "outside" me with forgiveness and Love. Dreams of Love lead the way to Heaven.
My Father Knows I need nothing. What could I possibly need other than the Everything He has given me? In my world I do seem to need things. The dream-world is a world of scarcity and lack. Yet am I really in this world? With Love I will learn of my True Home.
Everything ego says I need will give me no lasting Joy. Ownership is a dangerous concept if left to ego. Possession for its own sake is a basic tenet of the church ego builds for itself. "Me, me, me, mine, mine, mine." Ego urges me on to acquire and possess again and again, yet it leaves me wanting only more. Do not ever rely on myself to know what I need, for I do not know. Only Love knows what will Truly Satisfy. Leave my needs to God. Under His Guidance, I travel lightly. His Sight is always on the journey's end and He Wills me no delays.
Whenever I am tempted to undertake a useless journey, leading away from Light, call on God, then follow Him in Joy. He will lead me Safely through all the dangers this world sets before me. Do not desire what I will surely lose. Lay aside my restless wanderings for I undertake a Quiet, Peaceful journey to God.
Truth teaches me to Awaken. This is the only good function of "time." I will take the Peace God gives and spread It, like a veil of Light, across the world's sad face. I do not live in this world, but in Eternity. I travel only in dreams, while Safe at Home.
Perception to Knowledge. The past does not exist. This fact belongs to the Sphere of Knowledge, so I cannot know this Truly and Completely and still perceive myself to be part of the dream-world. The mind dwells only in Eternity and has no need to "perceive" anything. It does not consider "where" it is, because the concept "where" does not mean anything. It knows it is Everywhere and has Everything, Forever.
Perception is how I "see" in world of illusions. Knowledge is of God's World. In me is all Knowledge. Perception at its best, is never complete. Even perception of the world forgiven (as perfect as perception can be) is without meaning in Heaven. No perception, however Holy, will last forever. Perception of a world forgiven, is the final perception before God takes the last step and Awakens me Home. Perfect perception is what I aim for as it disappears into Knowledge. Aspects of Reality can be seen in everything and everywhere. These aspects of Reality will replace unreality.
Forgiveness is only useful in the dream-world and is not part of Reality, but it can give me partial glimpses of the Heaven that lies beyond. In every part of the Whole is the Whole, just like a hologram.
Offer forgiveness to everyone and everything that seems to be "outside" me, for the miracles resulting from that forgiveness attune me to Reality. My Perfection is not seen in the dream-world, but God remembers It for me.
Guilt. Guilt links the future to the past. It always condemns and hides the Father from His Son. Atonement is like a lamp shining so brightly that the chains of darkness disappear. Release from guilt will undo ego. Judge nothing and no one, for the "sins" I seem to see "outside" me will be my own.
If I place my faith in the past, the future will be like it. Atonement allows me to re-evaluate everything I value, allowing Heaven to separate the false and the True (I have accepted both into my mind without distinction). In my brother's Freedom is my own and it is me who Free my brothers through forgiveness. See no one as guilty and I affirm the Truth of Innocence for myself.
It is impossible to condemn one brother without condemning all brothers including myself. Those I see as guilty of any crime, become the witnesses to guilt in myself. Guilt is always in my mind. Do not allow myself to project it onto a brother. Guilt makes me blind, for if I see one spot of guilt, I will not see Light. Look within and see the Atonement shining in Quiet and Peace. Do not be afraid to look within. Ego tells me all is black with terror. Ego tells me to look on my brothers with condemnation, but I cannot do this without blinding myself.
Look upon the Light God placed in me and learn that what I feared is replaced with Love.
Release from Guilt. I perceive pain and destruction in tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, volcanoes, forest fires, shootings, and planes flying into buildings. I am willing to look to all kinds of "outside sources" to distract me and keep from my Awareness that I am insane.
In any relationship with a brother in which I judge him, I will feel guilty and I will never find satisfaction and Peace. Ego's main concern is to perceive the source of guilt "outside" myself, beyond my control. With ego, I establish no real relationships at all. I use my brothers as a means to "solve" the past and do not see them as they really are. I cannot use my brothers to resolve problems that do not exist.
Use no relationship to hold me to the past. With each one, each day, be born again. A minute (even less) will be enough to Free me from the past and turn my mind, in Peace, over to the Atonement.
Guilt, judgment and condemnation are never justified in any way, in anyone, whatever he may do. Guilt is always totally insane and has no purpose. The end of guilt will never come as long as I believe there is a reason for it. It makes no sense to make illusions "real" and then forgive them. Forgiveness dispels illusions because they do not exist.
God does not keep illusions in my mind to frighten me and show me what He has "saved me from." What He has "saved me from" is gone.
The Son of God believes he is lost and alone in a dark world where pain and sadness are everywhere. Yet, when I look within and see Radiance, I will remember how much my Father Loves me. The moment I realize guilt, judgment and condemnation are insane, unjustified and without purpose, I will not be afraid to look upon God's Plan of forgiveness and accept It completely.
I have forgotten my Father's Love and have been relentless and unmerciful to myself. My "brothers" are strangers to me. Look through the clouds of guilt that dim my vision; look past darkness to the Holy Place in me where I see Light. Look upon the Lovely Truth in me.
Love is not special. I cannot enter into Real Relationship with any of God's Sons unless I love them all, equally. If I single out any brother for my love, I am rejecting all others making all my relationships unreal. I can Love only as God Loves. There is no Love apart from Him.
Peace of Heaven. Forgetfulness, denial, sleep and death are ego's best solution for dealing with problems. God would never have His Son anything but Happy. My imagined enemies (cancer, Taliban, bombs, natural disasters, my own mad thoughts) are totally unreal. I am trying to escape an enemy from which I already have escaped; the enemy does not exist. Nothing destructive ever was or will be. It is gone back into the unreality from which it came.
When I am United in Heaven, I will value nothing that I value here. What I value here, I only value partially, therefore I do not value it at all. Value is where God has place it, it cannot be judged as worthy or unworthy, for God has established it. Heaven contains everything God values and nothing else. Heaven is Perfectly Certain, Clear and Bright. It calls forth one response: Love. There is no darkness and no contrast. There is no variation and no interruption. There is a sense of Peace so deep that no dream in my world can even imagine It.
Nothing in the dream-world can offer this Peace. Perfect perception (a world forgiven in Love) can merely show me the results of sharing while I still remember the results of not sharing. LOVE quietly points to the contrast, knowing that I will finally allow It judge the difference for me, pointing to Truth.
My mind is darkened by doubt and guilt. God will remove all the doubt and guilt I have laid upon myself. It is impossible that His mission fail. Whatever my reactions to His Voice may be, whatever voice I choose to listen to (ego or God), whatever strange thoughts may occur to me, God's Will is done. It is inevitable that I know this.
Change and shift are not part of Heaven. Contrast is only of the dream-world. Here contrast teaches me what to avoid (fear, guilt, doubt, hate, sadness, judgment) and what to seek (Love). When I have learned this, differences will disappear. When I have learned that I belong to Truth, Truth will flow gently over me and I will need no contrast to help show me Truth is what I want. God's Will fails in nothing.
God Wills that I be in Heaven. Have faith in only this one thing and that will be enough. My wildest misperceptions, my weirdest imaginings and my blackest nightmares all mean nothing. GOD will restore my Sanity because insanity is not the Will of God.
The Communication link God Himself placed in me, joining my mind with His, cannot be broken. I may think It is broken, but this belief does not change anything. God shares with me His Deep Peace and Sweet, Constant Communication. I have It now. He will help me remember. God Willed me Heaven, so Heaven is mine.
It is not possible to exempt myself from what God wants to teach me. Learn that even the darkest nightmare that disturbs the sleeping Son holds no Power over him. I will learn the lesson of Awakening. God watches over and surrounds me.
Can I lose myself in dreams when God placed within me the call to Awaken and be Glad? Sleep will not withstand the call to Awaken. I do not have to know Heaven is mine to make It so. It IS so. Yet for me to Know it, the Will of God must be accepted as my will, because It is my will.
Truth will undo everything insane I taught myself. There is no possibility that God's Plan will not be Perfectly Accomplished.
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